Forbidden Love's Trap (Dramione AU)
by qiutian103
Summary: Everything changes when the school announces that they're going to hold a Halloween masked ball during their sixth year in order to try and promote friendship between the houses. See prologue for full description. A/N: The Dark Lord doesn't exist in this universe, the Malfoys aren't evil, Neville's parents are sane and Harry's parents are still alive.
1. Prologue

**Description:** Shortly after Hermione was born, she disappeared from her muggle home only to be found by Lucius Malfoy with only a blanket embroidered with her first name to identify her. Realizing that she's a witch, he and his wife adopt her, raising her as a pureblood. She is sorted into Slytherin, but that doesn't stop her befriending Harry and Ron. Because she and Draco are raised as siblings they're very close, but as they get older Draco's feelings for her begin to change and he thinks he must be losing his mind. Little does he know that Hermione feels the same way.

Everything changes when the school announces that they're going to hold a Halloween masked ball during their sixth year in order to try and promote friendship between the houses. What will happen during the dance? How will they react at the end of the dance when everyone is unmasked? Will they deny what happened or will they fall into the trap of forbidden love? What will they do when they are confronted with truth of Hermione's origins?

 **Disclaimer:** All characters and magic belong to J.K. Rowling unless stated otherwise.

Prologue

 _October 1979_

The sound of a wailing child jolted Narcissa Malfoy from her restless, her hand instinctively going to rest against her stomach and the child slowly growing inside her. She was almost three weeks pregnant now and still hadn't been able to get in touch with her husband yet. He was away on business for the Ministry and he hadn't told her where he was going or even that he was leaving.

She had been so happy when she found out four days ago, they had been trying to get pregnant for so long that she had started to wonder if they ever would, she had apparated to her husband's office at the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to tell him the good news only to be told that he had been sent out on assignment. They wouldn't tell her where because it was considered classified. It was one of the few things she hated about being married to an Auror.

Thunder crashes outside, the sound loud enough and close enough to rattle the windows in their frames. The sound of wailing reached her ears again, making her scramble out of her bed. She rushed downstairs, calling for Dobby as she went.

When she reached the foyer she spotted Lucius standing there with his back to her bouncing gently while whispering softly.

"Lucius," she called while going to her husband's side. In his arms, wrapped in a little pale yellow blanket, was a little baby girl crying her lungs out. "Whose child is that?"

Lucius looked at her distractedly, still trying to soothe the crying infant. "I can explain," he said, worried that she might get the wrong idea about him suddenly coming home with a baby.

Narcissa rolled her eyes and took the unhappy child from her husband and immediately the child quieted. She raised an eyebrow at her husband, "Explain. Does this have to do with why you were gone for the past four days?"

Lucius sighed in relief at the silence. "Let me start from the beginning. We were sent out to raid a den of rouge werewolves that we'd been trying to track down for months, they had been kidnapping magical children and turning them. They had kidnapped twelve kids before we finally managed to locate their hideout."

Narcissa couldn't have hidden her shocked horror if she'd wanted to. "Oh those poor children," she said. She looked down at the baby in her arms and her dismay grew, "Is she…"

"No, no," he said quickly, "in fact, she's the only one who wasn't bitten or scratched. She was the youngest one there, the oldest was a seven year old boy with the rest being between the ages of three and six. We think she must have been taken within the last week or so. The other children are going to be kept under observation until the next full moon to see if they were infected."

Narcissa felt sick at the thought of what those poor children would have to go through if they turned and silently prayed for a miracle and that none of them would, but knew that some of them probably already had since this had apparently been going on for months now.

"I can't imagine what their parents must be going through," she said sympathetically. "But why did you bring this girl home? Where are her parents?"

"We don't know," he said running a hand through his long platinum blond hair. "According to the name on embroidered on to her blanket, her name is Hermione. No one by that name was reported missing, nor has any child her age been reported. We're making inquiries, but right now we're working under the assumptions that either her parents were killed the night she was abducted or she was an orphan to begin with. Either way, none of us are holding out any hope of finding the girl's parents."

Lucius grabbed his wife's waist, pulling her closer and kissed her forehead. "The Ministry has agreed to let us care for her until they can determine whether or not the girl has any family to be found. I know how badly you want to start a family my love," he said cupping her face in his hands, "and I know how disappointed you are at not having one yet, so I thought that maybe, if it turns out that we're right about this girl and find her family, maybe she could be ours'."

Narcissa felt tears forming in her eyes as she looked up at the man she loved and smiled. She leaned up and kissed him, so happy to have married such a wonderful man. "That would make me very happy," she said kissing him again. She turned to Dobby and handed the now sleeping child to the house elf before turning back to her husband and wrapping her arms around his neck, "To think that I would be so doubly blessed this week."

"Doubly," Lucius repeated pulling his head to search his wife's eyes. "Does that mean…"

Narcissa's smile widened and she nodded her head.

"You're pregnant," his tone was shocked, but then a huge grin spread across his face as he lifted his wife up into the air and spun her around in pure joy, "you're pregnant!"

Narcissa laughed at her husband's excitement before he silenced her with another kiss, though this one held much more passion in it.

His mind was reeling when he set her down and he was hit with a sudden realization. "Oh Merlin, we're not ready for this. Dobby, I want you to help Lady Malfoy look after Hermione." He started shouting for the other house elves, "We need baby supplies and food and… Oh bloody hell, we don't even have a nursery." He started issuing orders as soon as the house elves were assembled.

Narcissa laughed at her husband's manic planning and walked over to him, halting by grabbing his face and kissing _him_ silent this time. "Calm yourself my love. The house elves started preparing a nursery four days after I found out. Do not panic, you are going to be a great father."

"Oh Merlin, I'm going to be a father," he said in amazement as a goofy grin spread across his face and he picked his wife up and spun her around again. "I love you Narcissa Malfoy," he said as he set her back down.

"And I love you Lucius Malfoy."


	2. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: All characters and magic belong to J. unless stated otherwise.

 _October 1996, sixth year at Hogwarts_

"Draco, wake up," Hermione shouts jumping onto her younger brother's bed. "If you want breakfast you'd better get up now or Ron will have eaten it all by the time we get to the great hall."

"Five more minutes," Draco mumbles turning away from her and pulling his pillow over his head.

Hermione rolls her eyes with a sigh, "I tried to be nice," she says standing and taking out her wand and pointing it at Draco. " _Rictusempra."_

A silver jet of light shoots out of her wand and envelopes Draco's body eliciting a startled laugh from him as he bolts up in bed curling in on himself as if to protect himself from the tickling sensation.

"Okay, okay," he says while laughing and holding up his hands in surrender, "I'm up, I'm up."

"Good," she says with a smirk on her face and laughter in her eyes as she ends the spell and puts away her wand.

"Great," calls Blaise, his head sticking out of the bathroom, steam slipping out of the opening, "now that you've successfully woken him up, please leave. Unless you want to get an eye full," he says opening the bathroom door a little wider and smirking mischievously at her.

Hermione matches him smirk for smirk and raises an eyebrow at him. "I'm not stopping you Blaise," she says crossing her arms in front of her. "Besides, I wouldn't mind finding out if all the stories I've heard are true."

Blaise raises an eyebrow in question at that comment.

"Did you forget that I'm friends with most of your exes," she asks with a laugh. "I have to say, I've been dying to find out if any of what I've heard is true or an exaggeration," she says slowly closing in on him.

Draco feels his anger rising as he watches the exchange between his sister and his best friend and himself unconsciously grabbing his wand. He forces down his anger and makes an exaggerated gagging noise, drawing their attention. "If you two don't knock it off," he says not really having to fake his disgust, "I'm telling Ginny."

That makes Blaise take a step back and around Hermione to his side of the room, his face hot with embarrassment and more than a little concern about what his girlfriend would do to him if she found out about this. The flirting she wouldn't care about, this isn't the first time he and Hermione had pretended to flirt with each other, they'd been doing so since third year. It had never gone any further than that and it never would, not just because she's his best friend's sister and he would skin him alive if he tried, but also because she was practically a sister to him as well.

No, Ginny wouldn't care about the flirting. The thing that would piss her off was that fact he was flirting with Hermione while wearing nothing but a towel. Ginny's temper is as fiery as her hair, not to mention that Hermione had taught her all the hexes she knows, some of which made his skin crawl just thinking about.

"Alright, I'm leaving," she says heading for the door with a laugh. "Can't have Ginny trying to kill you. I'll see you two down in great hall."

When the door closes behind her, Blaise turns to Draco, "You're not really going to tell Ginny are you," he asks sheepishly as he begins to get dressed.

Draco simply gives him a cheeky grin and shrugs.

That night at dinner Dumbledore announces, "This Halloween, Hogwarts will be holding its first ever masked ball."

Excited chatter breaks out among the house tables, as students quickly begin discussing who to go with and what to wear.

Dumbledore smiles indulgingly at the students for a moment before raising his hands for silence. "There are however, a few things we must go over first," he informs once the students have quieted down. "First and foremost, this dance is intended to help promote friendship between all the houses. It is unfortunate that, despite the recent strides that the wizarding world has made to do away with the old prejudices, thanks in no small part to our to our Minister of Magic Lily Potter, that even here among you students, there are still traces of these old prejudices. That being said, this dance will has special rules that will be magically enforced. And for those of you who enjoy finding loopholes in the rules, just know that you will have to contend with not just with my magic, but Professor McGonagall's and Professor Snape's as well."

A low scattered grumble can be heard coming from the more mischievous students.

"Rule one," he continues, ignoring the discontented grumblings, "in regards to the dress code, your costumes may not contain any reference to your house, be it house colors or representation of your house mascot. This also applies to family crests for those of you who have them. Everyone will be seen as equal.

"Second, in order to ensure this equality, special charms will be put into place. These charms will ensure complete anonymity among you. You will be unable to tell anyone who you are until the unmasking at midnight. Our hope is, that by doing this, by the time of the unmasking you will have made some new friendships that some of you may not have considered otherwise. Oh, and unless you're family," he says in almost an afterthought, "you won't be able to recognize anyone by the sound of their voice either."

The next day Draco, Hermione, Blaise, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Neville and Luna sit around one of the tables in the library.

"So what do you think about this masked ball," asks Harry in a low voice so as not attract the attention of Madam Pince.

"I think it's a wonderful idea," Luna says happily. "It sounds like great fun."

"The biggest complaint I've heard is about not being able to take date," says Ginny while leaning her head against Blaise's shoulder.

"I agree with Luna," says Hermione. "I think that it's especially great for Slytherins since so many of the other students can't seem to let go of the long past transgressions. This dance is the perfect opportunity to prove that we're not all bad."

Draco nods his head in agreement. He watches as excitement lights up Hermione's eyes as the girls shift the conversation to costume ideas, a small smile on his face. He doesn't notice, that while he's watching his sister, someone else is watching him with a similar smile on their face well.

6


	3. Chapter 2

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, but life got in the way of writing. If you're interested, there are images that go along with story, but you'll have to look the story up on wattpad or livejournal to view them.

Chapter2

 _Night of the Masked Ball_

"This is the dumbest idea you've ever had Potter," says Draco as he struggles against Ron's and Blaise's hold.

"Oh, quit squirming or I might hit your face instead of your hair," Harry says slightly amused by Draco's resistance.

He makes one last futile attempt to escape before slumping forward in defeat.

Harry rolls his eyes at Draco's unwillingness to change his hair for the masked ball. "It's just for tonight and the spell will wear off before tomorrow morning. This is the only loophole the teachers didn't think about. It's a part of our costumes, but it also lets us identify each other during the dance. _Colovaria,_ " he says as red light shoots from his wand and watches as his friend's hair changes from platinum blond to a dark blackish purple which offset his pale skin and the contacts that he's wearing that are a light shade of purple. "Plus, since your costume is just a fancy tux and a black mask, you needed something to liven it up."

Blaise and Ron release him so he can take a look in a mirror. "I swear if my hair isn't back to normal when I wake up tomorrow, I'm going to try out some new hexes I just learned on you, some of which, you would find _very_ unpleasant. If I had known you were going to pull a stunt like this, I never would have agreed to wear the bloody contacts in the first place," he snaps while stomping over to the mirror.

"Which is exactly why we didn't tell you," Harry says in amusement while ignoring Draco's threat. "Besides," he continues while walking over to stand next to him front of the mirror, "I think it suits you." Harry's own hair had been turned white to match the contacts he wore and had been spiked in the front.

His costume had been modeled after some fictional muggle character named Zorro, consisting of a black shirt with long billowy sleeves and a lace up V-neck, which he left undone, tight black pants, black riding boots and black cape. All that black coupled with his now white hair made him look like an albino.

Ron, Blaise and Neville had also already changed their hair as well. Draco had been quite shocked by their different hair colors when the four of them had walked into the room and told him the plan.

Blaise kept his dark hair buzzed short most of the time, so when he had walked in with his now blood red hair to go along with his the dark paladin style costume he had chosen with realistic looking armor in varying shades of gray, which technically didn't break the no house colors rule because even though the colors were similar, they weren't technically the same. He had apparently checked and found out that the rule only applied to the two specific colors of the person's house. His black form fitting pants were tucked into his black leather boots. All together the effect was rather menacing. Whether or not that had been his intention, Draco didn't know, but he's sure that the effect will be multiplied later when his friend dons his bronze colored mask that was pointed at the top, almost like a crown.

Ron and Neville's hair looked more natural in comparison to the rest of theirs.

Ron had chosen a pair of light brown contacts, so his hair had been turned a medium shade of brown to match. Ron's costume had also been modeled after a muggle character called Robin Hood. He wore a loose dirty beige colored shirt under a muddy drown leather tunic with matching wrist guards with at least four different brown belts of a lighter shade arranged around his waist and over his chest. Hanging from his neck on a simple black string with a hole in the center was plain copper colored medallion. His pants are tan with stitching running up the front of the legs and are tucked in to a pair of boots that appear to be made from the same material as the tunic that seems to be laced up with some kind of narrow brownish black cord.

It seems to Draco that the books he always caught Harry reading in his spare time were also enjoyed by several other Gryffindors as well.

Neville's costume is no exception to this, but instead of a character, his costume is based on a genre that was slowly gaining popularity in the muggle world called steampunk. He wore a beige dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows, secured by little brown buttons, underneath a dark brown waistcoat with a matching silk tie. A bronze pocket watch chain attached to one of the ivory colored buttons disappeared into the waist pocket. His pants are black with big pockets at his thighs and more bronze chains connected to the belt loops. The pants are loose fitting until they reach his calves, where it looks like the excess fabric had been wrapped around and fastened with six bronze buttons. His black leather boots disappear beneath his pants and make him look a good two inches taller. He even has a black top hat decorated with clockwork gears of various sizes. All this coupled with his now dark blond hair and dark yellow eyes, made him look quite dapper really.

Draco shoots another glare at Harry before saying, "Remind me to hex your cousin should I ever meet him."

Harry raises an eyebrow at this, "Why?"

"He's the one who sent you the contacts," he says rolling his eyes, "that makes him responsible for giving you the idea of messing with our hair color."

Draco had always hated it when people messed with his hair, not because was vain about it or anything, he'd just always found it irritating. Even when his mother would fuss over is as a child, in fact that was probably why it irritated so much.

Harry laughs at his friend's logic before shrugging at him, "Then I guess I'll just have to make sure you two never meet."

In order to make sure the students actually socialized instead of just showing up with their friends and sticking with them all night, the teachers were escorting the students to the ballroom in groups based on their first names. What they didn't think about was that some of the students could and would use this system to find their boyfriends and girlfriends.

Blaise admits that he's grateful for this because it will make finding Ginny slightly easier since he would already be in the ballroom waiting. Just because they were supposed to be making new friends didn't mean he wasn't going to dance with his girlfriend.

Draco keeps him company while waiting on the students whose names start with G. "She didn't give you a hint of what she'd be wearing," Draco asked.

"Just that it would remind me of our first date."

"What did you do on your first date?"

"Not much," he says ands shrugs when Draco raises an eyebrow at him. "It was in Hogsmeade. Mainly we just walked around getting to know each other better. I did give her a rose at the beginning of the date though."

"Well that rules that out," Draco says rubbing his chin in thought, "Gryffindors can't wear red tonight."

"The rose I gave her was pink, not red," Blaise informs him, "but I don't think that'll help me much since more than a dozen girls have turned up in pink and we still have to wait for the F's."

Draco decides that the best course of action would be to distract his friend by teasing him, "Oh I'm sure you'll spot her right away."

"You think?"

"Of course," he says slinging an arm around his friend's shoulders, "I mean, as securely as she has you wrapped around her finger, it'll be like a dog sniffing out his master."

Blaise rolls his eyes at Draco's joke and gives him a light shove, making his friend chuckle. "Shut up," he tells him with a smile before straightening as the G students begin to file in.

He starts scanning the crowd for redheads, silently praying that the girls hadn't had the same idea as Harry and changed their hair color for the ball. When his eyes land on a girl in a pale pink ball gown he can feel his heart skip a beat.

It seems Draco had been right.

Blaise abandons his friend to his own devices as he makes his way over to her.

Ginny sensed him before she spotted him. Stepping away from the incoming group of students she sees a dark knight walking towards her. She smiles as she feels her heart flutter and a faint blush creep into her cheeks.

She clutches the folds of her satin dress to settle her nerves. For some reason, Blaise's knight costume made him look very dangerous. She wasn't used to wearing dresses with so many layers of skirt, but she's suddenly very grateful for them because they were now hiding her shaky legs.

Her dress is decorated with silver roses with smaller rose gold flowers and a scattering of costume crystals and pearls. The design completely covered the waist all the way around, ending just at the top of her skirts and framing her bust. She wore a matching silver rose choker that hung down over her chest. Her mask is rose gold with intricate designs carved into it with crystals positioned at the top center of the mask in the shape of a heart.

She had left her hair down, but she had curled it just enough to give it a wavy look. She had decided to keep her makeup simple, going for a natural look.

The dark knight offers her a bow once he reaches her. "I have been waiting for you princess," he says while kissing the back of her hand, his voice sounding deeper due to the spell's influence.

Ginny giggles at his display and quickly covers her mouth as she hears how her own voice sounds. It was lighter and softer than normal, at least to her ears. It sounded almost dainty.

Blaise smiles at her and simply offers her his arm, which she accepts, and escorts her on to the dance floor for their first dance of the night.

An hour later the ball is in full swing and Draco watches from the sidelines as his classmates dance and laugh with one another. He had to admit, Dumbledore and the other professors had outdone themselves tonight because it seems to be working.

He spots Neville dancing with who he assumes is Luna. The effect of her costume is stunning. Her dress is a pale sky blue that appears to be made out of silk overlaid with a type of mesh or gauze fabric of a slightly lighter shade of the same color which give the skirt of the dress some extra volume. Adorning the dress is a variety of small flowers and butterflies in varying shades of pale pink. Her mask is a pale, almost metallic looking blue with silver and black accents with a silver butterfly attached at the top.

It's the wings however, attached to the back of her dress that brings the whole look together. The colors of the wings are darker in contrast with her dress, they shimmer black, purple, blue and green in the light. The overall effect making it appear as if she's gliding across the floor as she dance with Neville.

Draco can't see Neville's face from where he's standing, but he can easily imagine that dreamy expression his friend always has whenever he's around the Ravenclaw on full display as the two of them dance their way around the ballroom.

He scans the rest of the ballroom looking for the rest of his friends. He spots Blaise and Ginny first on the opposite side of the ballroom with a small group of students and laughing. Blaise is gesturing wildly with his hands, so he can only imagine what story his friend must be telling. He could only hope that it didn't feature him.

Harry is easy to find thanks to his white hair. He's by the refreshments table and he seems to be in deep conversation with Professor Lupin. Not surprising considering they were like family in every way but blood. What is surprising however, is watching his godfather, Professor Snape, walk over to them and not only join in on their conversation, but laugh at something Lupin said.

Had someone somehow managed to spike his drink or was this more of Mrs. Potter's influence?

Draco decides not to dwell on it and shrugs, focusing instead on trying to locate Ron.

He spots him after a few minutes of searching and is stunned by the sight that greets him. Ron is dancing, quite gracefully, if Draco is being honest, with a girl in a simple yet elegant off the shoulder midnight blue ball gown and a simple white mask.

Considering how clumsy Ron generally was when it came to the fairer sex, Draco has to wonder if Ron's mask is somehow giving him an extra boost of confidence. In which case he hopes Ron will be able to keep it up once everyone is unmasked.

He continues to people watch for a few more minutes when his eyes suddenly land on a girl and he feels his heart skip a beat. She may as well have been standing in a spotlight because in that instant she had his full attention.

Draco hadn't made a conscious decision to move, but he suddenly found himself walking toward the beauty, determined to ask her for a dance.

Hermione can't help but smile to herself as she finishes her punch. She was having so much fun. She'd already danced with two different guys and met several other interesting people she was hoping to make friends with after the unmasking.

She glances down at her dress to make sure she hadn't spilled anything on the beautiful dress her mother had sent her after she had wrote to her about the ball. She was even happier that it was blue instead of pink, which her mother seemed to think was one of the colors she looked best in. It was one of the few things they disagreed on. Her mother had made her wear so much pink as a child that she could hardly stand the color at all now.

At least, not on herself, she mentally corrects herself while remembering Ginny's beautiful dress. Her best friends had looked stunning tonight in their gowns when they'd met up in Luna's room to work on their hair and makeup.

They had helped arrange her hair into a knotted updo that Luna claimed made her look regal. The effect multiplied when added with the pale blue ball gown. It had a layered skirt to give it volume, a soft gauze type fabric of a slightly darker blue was draped around the skirt and bodice before forming a strap that hooked behind her neck before trailing down her arms like a wrap. The dress was decorated with flowers in indigo and pale purples.

She accessorized it with a simple blue crystal necklace and matching earrings. For her mask she had chosen one in dark blue overlaid with black lace with a velvet blue rose attached to the right side.

She almost hadn't recognized herself when she'd seen herself in the mirror.

A hand on her shoulder snaps Hermione back to the present. She turns her attention to the owner of the hand and finds herself looking into a pair of violet eyes. She blinks once before noticing that he has purple hair to match.

He takes her hand in his and lightly kisses the back of her hand. "Would you care to dance," he asks with a charming smile.

Hermione can feel the blush creeping into her cheeks as she nods her head. She can't understand why her heart is suddenly pounding, but at the moment she didn't like trying to analyze it as he leads her onto the dance floor.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: Sorry it's taken so long, but life has been throwing one curve ball after another at me lately and I've been a little depressed. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter and if you notice any mistakes feel free to point them out.**

 **This chapter contains both straight and boyxboy moments, you've been warned.**

Chapter3

Draco was enchanted by the girl, there was no other word for what he felt as they continued to dance. As they spoke he found her to be incredibly intelligent, witty and charming. She was radiant, in every sense of the word and he'd barely managed to stop himself from getting lost in her beautiful brown eyes.

It was as if they were the only two people in the room.

"You would think that I would remember a person with your eyes," she says suddenly.

He smiles at the comment. "No harm done, since much like my hair, purple isn't their natural shade."

She frowns in confusion, "Then how, magic can't be used on a person's eyes."

"My friend's cousin sent him several pairs of colored contacts, a muggle invention," he explains. "According to him, they're generally clear and used as a substitute for glasses. Then, for whatever reason, someone came up with a batch that allowed a person to change their eye color when worn. It was his idea to wear them and change our hair color to match tonight."

"What color are they normally?"

"Grey."

She smiles at that, "Well purple seems to suit you just as well."

"Thank you," he says while spinning her out in time with the music, making her laugh. As he pulls her back in, his left arm instinctively circles her waist to hold her close as he smiles down at her.

He can feel his heart speeding up as he gazes into her eyes and without realizing what he's doing it, he closes the small distance between their faces and kisses her gently on the lips.

* * *

Harry watches as Draco dances with the girl in the blue dress, his irritation rising with every twirl and dip that he witnesses. Who is she and why is Draco smiling at her like that?

That smile was one he only ever saw when Draco was with him and their friends. So how could a stranger make smile like that?

"They make quite a pair, don't they," asks a voice from behind him.

Harry, startled, whirls around so fast he almost loses his balance.

"Sorry," he says taking a step back and raises his hands in mock surrender. "Didn't mean to startle you."

He's a full head taller than Harry, forcing him to tilt his head back a little so he can meet his grey eyes. His dark messy hair hangs over his dark grey opera mask that almost completely covers the right side of his face. He wore an old fashioned steel grey suit with a dark blue tie with a single vertical silver stripe that made him look like he'd just stepped out of the late 1800s.

Harry blinks in confusion, "What?" He was referring to what the guy had said when he had startled him.

He seems to understand this and clarifies. "That couple you were watching. They make quite a pair. I take it that you know the one with purple hair considering you were glaring daggers at the girl."

"I was not," Harry quickly denies as a blush creeps up his neck and on to his face.

He laughs, his smile catching Harry off guard. He looks past Harry and smirks, "Then I guess what they're doing won't bother you at all either then."

Harry turns to look and involuntarily clenches his fists at his sides as he watches Draco kiss her.

He can feel the guy watching him and fights the urge to grit his teeth as he turns back to him. "Excuse me," mutters Harry stepping around him and making a beeline towards the big double doors that would lead him outside. He needed some fresh air, the ballroom was suddenly feeling hot and overcrowded.

* * *

Cedric had seen the boy's reaction and suddenly felt bad for teasing him. He follows him outside with the intention of apologizing. He didn't know what, but something about the boy had drawn him in.

As he steps into the cold night air he spots him ducking behind the side of the building. You could get to the lake from that direction. Was that where he was going?

Cedric follows after him, unsure how he should approach him. He hopes the boy doesn't have his wand on him, he really didn't feel like getting hexed tonight if he isn't in a forgiving mood.

He watches as the boy stops and take a seat next to the weeping willow. As Cedric approaches he clears his throat to announce his presence. He quietly sits down next to him, noticing the gloomy expression on his face.

"I had a feeling you were going to follow me out here," he says not taking his eyes off the lake.

"I wanted to apologize," Cedric says. "I shouldn't have teased you like that. It's never easy seeing the person you fancy with someone else."

He turns to look at Cedric, "I take it you've been in a similar situation."

Cedric gives him a halfhearted smile as he nods his head. "Two years ago my girlfriend dumped me after suddenly falling for some other bloke and they're still together."

"Are you two still friends?"

Cedric thinks about that for a moment, "In a way I guess. I mean we were really close before we dated, but not so much now. We still hang out every now and then, but nothing like we used to. How long have you fancied your purple haired friend?"

"Since third year, but I've known him since we were toddlers," he admits sheepishly. "There are times when I'm talking to him when I just want to tell him. Blurt it out and be done with it, but then I chicken out. I know he'll never feel that way towards me and I don't want to make things weird between us or worse, have him hate me for it."

"So he doesn't know that…," Cedric begins to ask but stops because he isn't sure how to phrase the question.

"That I like guys as much as I like girls," he supplies for him. "No, I've only ever introduced him to the girls I've dated. It took me about a year just to work up enough nerve to try anything with another bloke, but I had to know if it was just him or not."

Cedric processes all of this before asking, "What year are you now?"

He gives him a confused look, but answers, "Sixth, why?"

"So you've fancied him for almost three years and he never once noticed," Cedric asks astonished. "You must be one hell of an actor, that or your friend is just really dense since I figured it out so quickly."

He stares at Cedric for a moment then suddenly starts laughing so hard he doubles over.

Cedric smiles at the sight and sound of his laughter and he chuckles as well. "You're cute when you laugh," he suddenly says without thinking.

The statement makes him stop laughing as he straightens and stares at him. "What," he asks as if he hadn't heard him right.

"You're cute when you laugh," he repeats with an amused smile on his face because even in the dim moonlight, Cedric could see that he was blushing.

Cedric stands up before he can think of a response and holds out his hand, "Let's head back inside. It's bloody cold out here."

* * *

Harry stares at his hand a moment before taking it and letting him pull him to his feet.

He keeps the conversation going as they walk back, asking Harry questions and answering his in return. Harry learns that he's an only child like him and also like himself, he was a huge quidditch fan and was on his house's team as well, but the charm prevented him from saying what position he played.

Right before they're about to go back inside, Harry stops him and says, "Thank you for cheering me up back there."

"It was the least I could since I played a role in upsetting you," he says smiling. "Besides I have an ulterior motive."

Harry raises an eyebrow at the statement and crosses his arms, "And what might that be?"

He leans in close making Harry take a reflexive step back only to come into contact with the stone wall behind him. Harry continues to stare up at him as he closes distance, nerves rooting him to the spot.

He sees it coming. He'd have to blind not, but Harry still feels a slight shock of surprise as he lightly kisses him.

He pulls away and say in a low next to his ear, "Hopefully at midnight I'll know your name so I can ask you out on a proper date."


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: I know it's short, but I wanted to go ahead and post both chapters 3 and 4 today.**

Chapter 4

 _One hour until midnight._

Hermione is on cloud nine. The mysterious purple haired boy had effectively swept her off her feet and she couldn't be happier. They talked about their interests, favorite subjects, his was potions, and anything else that came to mind. When they danced he always pulled her close and when he kissed her… Merlin, when he kissed her, she thought she just might float away.

The first kiss had started out sweet and gentle, but it hadn't stayed that way for long. Heat had surged through her as soon as their lips had touched and she had responded in kind.

Now it seemed like they stealing kisses every few minutes. She knew it was crazy, to feel this way about someone she'd just met, whose name she didn't even know, but she didn't care.

Maybe it was the mystery involved with it being a masked ball, but she couldn't ever remember feeling like this before. She was looking forward to midnight when everyone would unmask themselves. She couldn't wait to see the face behind the mask.

* * *

Harry lets himself be lead back into the ballroom, very much aware of the fact that he was blushing from ear to ear. How had he done that Harry wondered as he stares at the back of his head as he leads them back toward the refreshment's table. How had that quick, simple little kiss managed to turn into a blushing virgin all over again?

 _Who is this guy?_

* * *

 _Twenty minutes to midnight_

Draco hands her a glass of punch as they find an empty table to rest at. "I hope you'll let me ask you out after the unmasking," he says taking her free hand into his own and interlacing their fingers. The action feels so natural, so right it has him smiling.

"I think I would be offended if you didn't," she says returning his smile. "Do you think we've ever met before?"

"I very much doubt it," Draco says shaking his head. "If we had we would've recognized each other." His smile suddenly shy as he looks into eyes, "I don't think I've connected this quickly with anyone before. I know that probably sounds cheesy, but it's true."

"I feel the same," she reassures him. She suddenly bites her lip in thought, "Would it bother you if we turn out to be from different houses?"

Draco gives her hand a squeeze, his free and going to cup her face, "Not in the slightest," he says and leans in for another kiss.

* * *

 _Ten minutes to midnight._

Cedric doesn't know why, but he's determined to make the white haired Zorro forget all about his purple haired friend for the rest of the night. He's never been interested in guys before, but he's definitely interested in him.

He hadn't planned on kissing him, but he'd done it and he'd felt the spark when their lips had met. His blushing face had nearly undone him.

He might not know the first thing about dating another bloke, but he's suddenly looking forward to learning, that is, if he can convince Zorro to teach him. He would find soon enough.


End file.
